Our Final Dinner Club of the Season Is in The Books!

Hors d'oeuvres table centerpiece!

Our “Mad Men Dinner” last Saturday marks the final meeting of this, our fifth year, of Dinner Club. We agreed with one another over our delicious meal that we’ve indeed gotten better as the years have gone by… Better at cooking, better at presenting, better at planning; we’re much better friends than we were five years ago. We’ve grown close as a group and comfortable with one another. Comfortable enough to make mistakes in our cooking or to wear a beehive hair-do to the dinner table without feeling self-conscious in the least!

This Dinner Club was terrific in so many ways; first, our host and hostess really put some thought into what their home would have looked like for a dinner party in the 1960’s. No, they didn’t go out and buy new furniture. However they did find a few thrift store buys, hand-me-down’s from their parents and borrowed items that set the scene perfectly.

Ash trays aplenty; check! Boxes of cigarettes (candy cigarettes); check! A fully stocked bar with all the trimmings; check! A centerpiece that screamed sixties, a beautifully set table… place cards; check, check and check! The centerpiece of the hors d’oeuvre table, was in fact, an enjoyably ridiculous 60’s spectacle that our hostess came across while doing some research online. (I LOVE that she did research online – and she’s not the only one – keep reading!)

The centerpiece consisted of an enormous pineapple with wooden picks protruding from it. On each pick was a series of pineapple chunks and maraschino cherries, ending with a cocktail weenie and finally a candle. After dinner, we all gathered for cocktails again near the bar and hors d’ oeuvres table where our hostess ceremoniously lit the candles for us all to admire! Hilarious!

We had some very traditional 60’s dishes that we had never before prepared, like the baked Alaska dessert, which was quite tasty indeed. The beef wellington entrée was served in a new, updated format  - as individually pastry wrapped portions – that maintained the classic vibe of the dish, while making it new, different, and easier to serve to a large group. Watch for more later this week on our hostess’ “Individual Beef Wellingtons”! It's a terrific company-worthy recipe to have onhand.

The star attraction of the meal was definitely our Caesar salad; prepared tableside for each of us just as restaurants more commonly did in times-gone-by. Our friend who prepared it had definitely done his “You Tube” research, as well, and knew his stuff! He explained, as he was preparing, just what he was incorporating and let me just say that this freshly-made preparation of a very traditional salad is the way to go. It is so delicious. You simply can’t have a pre-prepared salad or a bottled dressing that will “wow” you the way this does. I’ve done this at home for my family and it’s really not difficult. Do some research and give it a try yourself.

Well, folks... this is it for our Dinner Club season. I'll be taking a "blogging break" for a few months until it's time to gear up again for planning. Call it a summer vacation, if you will! When we're ready to plan for our 2011-2012 season, I'll be sure to pick up where I left off with the fun details for you on how and what we have in store for our 6th year of Gretna's Dinner Club!

Thanks for reading during the season. I hope you'll stay with me and use some of our ideas in the future!
Andrea

This bar setup  was well thought-out and
included all the little details... even drink
recipes of the times for us to try out!

The dining room table was beautifully set for
a proper dinner party of the time.